Friday Ephemera

I question his commitment, frankly. (h/t, Damian) || I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. || Incoming air. || Nommy nommy nom. || If we all flap together, this baby is ours. || Bubbles of hydrogen. || Bathroom door distinction of note. (h/t, Holborn) || A brief history of colour charts. || It’s how they reproduce. || Vintage pulp magazine archive. From Astounding Stories to Weird Tales. || Parachutist of note. || Popcorn. || Fair point. (h/t, Damian) || The thrill of algae. || Long shot detected. || Land of ice. || Lunatic asylum notebook of note. || Last year, summarised. || At sea, diabolical scenes. || Suboptimal delivery service. || And finally, as time-saving measures go, it was, it has to be said, a partial success.

Comments

[Baceseras]

Fair point 

Marlboros, and Marlboro menthols.

[Steve E]

I question his commitment, frankly.

That's what happens to me by the time I reach the end of the driveway.

[pst314]

Suboptimal delivery service.

"I’ve already used all proper channels, talked to him in real life, and my neighbors have spoken to him directly and also filed formal complaints..."

In other words, he's a government employee who cannot be fired.

[pst314]

If we all flap together, this baby is ours.

He should have washed his hands after eating that frosted donut.

[PiperPaul]

"I question his commitment, frankly."

I've never actually seen post-faceplant body self-stabilization before.

[Hal]

Why is a 22GB database containing 56 million US folks' personal details sitting on the open internet using a Chinese IP address? Seriously, why?

[Darleen]

What could go wrong?

[Connor]

as time-saving measures go, it was, it has to be said, a partial success.

Now drop the milk.

[David]

Now drop the milk.

I was waiting for the words caffeine hit.

Morning, all.

[David]

I’ve never actually seen post-faceplant body self-stabilization before.

I do like that, once uprighted, he just carries on.

[David]

Heavens.

Via Holborn.

[David]

John Anderson talks with Douglas Murray.

[Clam]

Vintage pulp magazine archive.

Hold my calls.

[Captain Nemo]

Not at all concerning:

https://twitter.com/KimyaNDennisPhD/status/1214872909203886081

We've been here before, of course:

https://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2019/04/dont-oppress-my-people-with-your-public-libraries.html

[David]

We’ve been here before, of course:

[ Turns to camera, raises eyebrow. ]

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Lunatic asylum notebook of note. Last year, summarised.

Redundant links.

Hold my calls.

Yeah, I'm torn between "Captain Billy's Whiz Bang", and "French Night Life Stories".

We've been here before, of course:

Who can forget the classic White Devil Science ?

[WTP]

I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.

Well that's pretty lame. Usually the phrase, "And then the wheels came off" comes much later in the story. Oh, Canada.

[DrD]

Here's my fave for best delivery. And he goes through this every time!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn3ymQB4iqQ

[Hector Drummond]

Little fella ran out of batteries.

[Mike]

I do like that, once uprighted, he just carries on.

Good Canadian kid, right there. </Don Cherry voice>

[Trevor]

Not at all concerning

The institution that awarded her a PhD should be razed and the ground salted. Evacuate it first if you're particularly squeamish.

[sH2]

as time-saving measures go, it was, it has to be said, a partial success.

Can you inhale ground coffee?

[David]

Can you inhale ground coffee?

There is a version with sound.

[Fred the Fourth]

Vintage pulps...
Clam, if you're not back in 3 days I'm coming in after you.

[Tom]

Can you inhale ground coffee?

Well, sure. You can do anything... once.

[Darleen]

Too many awesome pull-quotes to list here … but here's a couple (Cynthia Yockey is a good friend)

I was working at a gay magazine and pitched my editor to write an ode to the vanishing bulldyke complete with a glossy, high-fashion photo spread of leathery, shorn, haggard and grisly old lesbians in their Wranglers and tool belts. I thought it would be gorgeous, but the pitch was swiftly rejected. That’s transphobic, I was told.

*************

Old school lesbian and author Cynthia Yockey told me she’s noticed this as well. ‘Dykes of all ages are disappearing into testosterone disguises now that male privilege comes in a bottle. And just when it is safer to be a butch lesbian than at any time in history, teen lesbians are being seduced by social media and coerced by trans activists into believing puberty blockers, mastectomies, and testosterone are their get-out-of-gay-free card’, she said.

‘But the flaming queen boys and butch little girls nearly all grow up to be gay if they have not been socially and medically transitioned. This is the most comprehensive and vicious gay conversion program conducted in history’.

As they say, read the whole thing!

[Y. Knott]

Not mine - but horrible. Seen on Twitter:

"A woman is sitting at her husband's funeral.
A man comes to her and asks, "May I say a word?"
She replied, "Why yes - please!"
He says, "Plethora" and sits down.
She says "Thanks - it means a lot."

[David]

Seen on Twitter

[ Peers over spectacles, points to door. ]

[Sam]

Long shot detected.

I'm convinced some people simply believe they are living in Grand Theft Auto.

[Sam Duncan]

“Vintage pulp magazine archive.”

Letters to Movie Pictorial, 1915:

I saw a Kalem Civil War film in which the soldiers were making couplings of cars by means of Gould automatic couplers. I was not born until 25 years after the great strife, but I distinctly remember when automatic couplers came into existence.

and

In “Eats” (Vitagraph), two hoboes alight from a freight train and go in search of food. This train is shown apparently just pulling into a large terminal yard, but I was unable to locate the caboose attached to the rear of the train. ... The back of this train is shown very clearly in the picture, and any railroad man seeing such a train cannot help being amused.

It's like an Edwardian comments section. There really is nothing new under the sun.

[Sam]

It's like an Edwardian comments section. There really is nothing new under the sun.

Yep. For example the equivalent of Rotten Tomatoes was...rotten tomatoes.

[Y. Knott]

"[ Peers over spectacles, points to door. ]"

- No WAY I'm goin' out that door - it hit my @$$ on the way IN!

Got a window you can throw me out of?

[Trevor]

Afua Hirsch, the eminent hysterian who is popular with many inmates here, delves deeply as only she can into the tragic story of a woman of colour forced to become a refugee.

[Trevor]

Got a window you can throw me out of?

Just be thankful he hasn't had your coat thrown into the street and set on fire. He's done that to me more than once before. Last time it was my second-best Astrakhan.

[Hal]

Commentary on design and construction.

[Baceseras]

Sometimes an unread book wins a place in our affections just on the strength of its title.

[Hal]

. . . the tragic story of a woman of colour forced to . . .

Uh huh . . . granting that there is already an established choice of dropping off the map as a Wallis Simpson, or continuing on as a Duchess of Cornwall . . .

[Hal]

Sometimes an unread book wins a place in our affections just on the strength of its title.

Errr, across two browsers, the only title turning up is Please enter your CPL Library card number: . . .

[Baceseras]

Hal, sorry about that and I'm at witsend how to fix it. It's in the Gale Eighteenth Century Collections Online, and nowhere else that I can find gives the full title. It loses something in the abbreviation. So here goes:

The Man Of Manners Or, Plebian Polish’d. Being Plain And Familiar Rules For A Modest And Genteel Behaviour, On Most Of The Ordinary Occasions Of Life. Whereby The Many Vanities, Weaknesses And Impertinences Incident To Human Nature, (Which Expose Persons To Contempt And Ridicule) May Be Easily Avoided. Written Chiefly For The Use And Benefit Of Persons Of Mean Births And Education, Who Have Unaccountably Plung’d Themselves Into Wealth And Power. The Manner Of Walking The Streets And Other Publick Places. The Usual Salutations And Greetings, Down From The Complaisant Grin And Sneer Of Quality, To The Honest Porterly How-D’ye; Or The More Homely Civility, How Fares Your Best Body? The Manner Of A City Family’s Sitting At Dinner. Wholesale Traders, Great Money-Jobbers And Other Rich Plodders, Their Sentiments Of Breeding And Good Manners. Common Conversation A Meer Comedy. Rules Recommended To Preachers For A Modest And Courtly Behaviour Towards The Beau Monde. Scandalous Indecencies At Churches In Time Of Divine Service; A Misfortune To The Church Of England, That Farinelli And Senesino Were Not Bred Protestants. Rudeness Of The Cockaded Gentry To Modest Tradesmen. Blazing Beaus Of The Towns, Indebted For Every Article Of Their Wearing Apparel, From The Crowns Of Their Head, To The Soles Of Their Feet, Except The Bath Metal Buttons At Their Shirt-Sleeves. The Irishman’s Caution And Modesty, In Refusing To Look At The Corpse Of His Dead Countryman, On Account Of His Having A Stinking Breath When Living. Street Hunchers, Jostlers, And Coach-Splashers, Taken Notice Of. A Notable Verbal Encounter Between Two Ladies, That Deal In Fresh Cod And Live Lobsters. With Variety Of Other Matters, Moral, Serious And Comical.

[David]

[ Emerges from storeroom with jukebox. Sets dial to “autotuned smut.” Inserts coin. ]

[Daniel Ream]

Fair point

A bit unfair, actually. The 2011 reboot of Thundercats has pretty solid artwork and a surprisingly based storyline, and the 2002 reboot of Masters of the Universe was fooking metal.

[Steve E]

Rock drummer virtuoso, Neil Peart, R.I.P.

[ Sets dial to drum solo. Inserts coin. ]
[ Follows by setting dial to three guys live, NO AUTOTUNE! Somehow got two plays for my last coin. ]

[Uma Thurmond's Feet]

Nice lungs. (YT link but potentially NSFW. Oh, and turn down the volume first.)

[Hal]

It loses something in the abbreviation.

. . . . . . Of course, knowing the Eighteenth Century, that could be the abbreviation . . .

[Hal]

NO AUTOTUNE!

The evolution of muzak:

First generation:
Pop music, rock, or so, given a melody only arrangement with lots of violins that's presented as a variety of classical music.

Second generation:
Pop music, rock, or so, also arranged as melody only, but now using synthesizers.

Third generation:
Anything with autotune.

[Hal]

Rock drummer virtuoso, Neil Peart, R.I.P.

[ Sets dial to drum solo. Inserts coin. ]
[ Follows by setting dial to three guys live,

An item currently listed in the Google aggregate Business news:

Motley Crue, Def Leppard Add Another Band to 2020 Stadium Tour
Motley Crue and Def Leppard's 2020 Stadium Tour with Poison and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts already has quite the stacked lineup, but the more the merrier ...
Loudwire
2 hours ago

[Darleen]

Just got back from seeing the movie 1917. Took my 17 y/o grandsons (twins) to it - Sean is quite the history buff.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I'm emotionally spent. Not a wrong note in this movie. The boys are in awe and Sean couldn't get over (and is very appreciative) that the movie is just raw & realistic. No politics, no cartoon heroism. Just an excellent film enhanced by understated acting (not one scene chewed) and tightly directed. Most of the time you're right at the shoulders of the main characters, seeing things from their POV, and it really helps you experience it - from the trenches to crossing No Man's Land - like they are. This should be a "must see" on everyone's list.

[Runcie Balspune]

Popcorn?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O775dHUHxLs

Coffee Hit
Demonstrating Sheldon's Superman Theory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PvwtS0htyk

[Baceseras]

knowing the Eighteenth Century 

. . . sometimes known as the Long Eighteenth Century

[Daniel Ream]

1917

Between this, Joker and Rickey Gervaise, I'm cautiously optimistic we may be seeing a revival of actual filmmaking.

[Darleen]

Mmmmm … snacks.

[Darleen]

Oooo… this would make nice addition to David's art collection.

And if one episode of saving the planet with art isn't enough, it's a whole series!

Our tax dollars at work.

[David]

Somehow got two plays for my last coin.

I’ll have to look into that.

[David]

According to The Lancet, which may well be read by your own doctor, white people must “unbecome white.” They must “eliminate whiteness altogether.”

Because, obviously, “whiteness is badness.”

[David]

Previously in the World of Woo.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Because, obviously, “whiteness is badness.”

Wow. Start with something that happened in 1963 in the deep South, then leap ahead to...

Situating his analysis within the political landscapes of Missouri, Tennessee, and Kansas, Metzl explores how white Americans arm themselves with guns or votes...

...as if the same thing is still going on. We'll ignore the fact that Missouri, Tennessee, and Kansas hardly represent all of 'Murkan wypipo, but how dare they "arm" them selves with votes ?

The author of this silly book is a shrink and a sociologist, so we are in trouble right there, but he evidently overlooked demographics of state and city government in those states because they are not exactly the KKK (for example, the guy is from Kansas City, you think he might have noticed the wypipo have voted for three black mayors in the last 30 years), so evidently for a bunch of racists their aim is bad.

The good news, besides Sailer effectively fisking this tripe, is things like this review are generally found by accident as the readership of The Lancet, JAMA, and NEJM, while unfortunately not asymptotically approaching zero, is getting there because of nonsense like this, and probably the only ones to have read his book (which basically appears from his site to boil down to "guns and orange man bad") are his unfortunate students who were forced to.

[pst314]

Because, obviously, “whiteness is badness.”

Theodore Dalrymple has on occasion noted the Lancet's descent into political lunacy. For instance:

"And yet The Lancet in particular, once one of the world’s greatest medical journals, never fails to irritate me. Its sanctimony makes Elmer Gantry seem like a self-doubter. It propounds abject nonsense with the self-conceit of the assuredly saved preaching to the assuredly damned. Dickens would have loved to satirise it...."
--WHO Cares? by Theodore Dalrymple (New English Review, Aug. 2006)
https://www.newenglishreview.org/custpage.cfm?frm=3671&sec_id=3671

[Sam Duncan]

“eminent hysterian”

:)

“So here goes:”

Wait. Is that the title, or the book?

“Sets dial to 'autotuned smut.'”

I'm trying to think of a witty response, but f*** it.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

It must be the full moon, today in self haters to go along with Herr Doktor Professor Wypipo Bad.

1) From The Guardian (because of course) "I campaign for the extinction of the human race"

We’re causing the extinction of hundreds of thousands of other species. With us gone, I believe ecosystems will be restored and there will be enough of everything. No more fighting over resources.

Meanwhile at the watering hole...

2) A cleric who, from the twitter banner also seems troubled by wypipo, offers an opinion on God's weight and twerking ability

I dyed my hair blue. Well, sorta. It looks brunette, with blue/purple tints.

Natch. BTW, if you disagree with the opinion above guess what you must be.

Somewhat related, for a mere 30K frogskins (base model) you too can live in a 156sq ft camper with no wheels. If it came with Leloo, I might think about it, but 2 grand more gets you a single wide with a 156 sq ft living room, along with actual bedrooms and baths. Probably comes with wheels too.

[Charlie Suet]

The sources for that Lancet article are fascinating. A weird mix of studies that show at least some understanding of the scientific method and tenth rate sociology that basically consists of a string of politically motivated assertions. No distinction is made between the two.

It really is amazing how stupid doctors can be when they wander off their specialist subject. Just take a look at the NHA party in the UK - its candidates have a legitimate claim to be intelligent educated people (and Phil Hammond also stood for them). Yet their policies are just ante-diluvian lefty pap.

For all the stuff about how wonderful STEM degrees are, there’s two things that don’t seem to be emphasised enough:
1) To become an expert is to specialise and to specialise is to neglect. Very few people are experts on more than one thing.
2) You didn’t invent the scientific method. You use it because other people developed it, painstakingly, and you shouldn’t assume you will apply it to a subject you’re new to.

[Darleen]

Does this mean fat-shaming is ok?

[Darleen]

You didn’t invent the scientific method. You use it because other people developed it, painstakingly, and you shouldn’t assume you will apply it to a subject you’re new to.

Too many believe their degrees convey a certain amount of exclusive magic.

[pst314]

Too many believe their degrees convey a certain amount of exclusive magic.

I know a lot of people with STEM degrees, and a sadly large number are fools.

[Darleen]

Now for something completely different … beware belly laughs.

[Farnsworth M Muldoon]

Just got back from seeing the movie 1917...Not a wrong note in this movie.

I'm waiting for it to get here, but meanwhile, over at Salon...

"1917" has one major flaw - it's irresponsibly nationalistic The film has amazing acting and technical achievements, but its simplistic storytelling falls in line with Trumpism

I get the feeling he is obsessed.

One of that conflict’s most powerful leaders, Kaiser Wilhelm II, identified as a German nationalist...yada yada yada...In other words, he was a proto-Donald Trump.

RTWT - Even for Salon the whole article is some serious bugwittery, even worse because our esteemed author has a PhD in history.

OTOH, perhaps that last bit explains it.

[Fred the Fourth]

Darleen, I'm going to show that to Mrs. Fourth, who is currently bugging me to visit shelters to "look at" dogs. I've had several pooches, she has not. And this despite her knowing that our house has more than the normal quantity of auto body filler paste in sections of the exterior woodwork (a side effect of my last dog).

[Darleen]

it's irresponsibly nationalistic The film has amazing acting and technical achievements, but its simplistic storytelling falls in line with Trumpism

What.The.Fuck.